Christmas Planning Part 1/4

The bells might sound early for some of you, however if you’re also a shop owner, it is well about time to get ready for Christmas!

On a business perspective, the festive season gives a real opportunity for small businesses to shine. But to get to the front of the scene, you need to put in the work, and the earlier, the better.

Bigger retailers begin their internal work on Christmas early in the year, for some even a year in advance! So how does it all work, and how can we make it work for you too?

1- What can you offer for Christmas?

If you’re a shop owner and sell either digital, or physical products, Christmas could very well be the time of the year where you make the most sales. As we all offer gifts to our relatives, friends and colleagues, what about creating a carefully curated selection of the best products from your shop? After all, that’s what we expect from our favourite brands too, right?

If you offer services (i.e. coaching, yoga, subscriptions, courses etc.), you may not so much need to offer a special Christmas service, but you could. What could your customers enjoy for Christmas? It could be a simple promotion, or something specially made for the season, or also something that could be bought as a gift for a loved one.

2- The impact a visual campaign can create on your brand

When you put in the extra effort to create something seasonally branded, you let people see how “alive” your brand is. You demonstrate your ability to be accurate and present, and of course that it works super well for your customers who feel like you’re in the flow.

Example: have you ever noticed how the brand Free People has a logo that changes every so often? I love how vibrant their brand is, it just looks so alive and you feel that there are people in the backstage working to make it look so dimensional. And yet, it still keeps the same vibe and timeless look too.

Working on your brand and products through the seasons will help you build a stronger connection with your audience who will feel like you’re on the same page.

Example: when you’re catching up with a whole season of a TV series, how weird does it feel when they get to the Christmas part of it and you’re watching it eating ice cream in shorts in July? But, on another hand, when you’re actually caught up with the series and you’re just watching the latest episode, most often they will run it on TV at the right time of the year (hopefully!). And it feels pretty cool, don’t you think? It just makes it all more “real”, (Now I’m drifting to imagining Harvey —Suits— in a Santa costume… back to work!)

3- So, what is the first step to take to be part of the Christmas retail experience?

To help you define how to visually dress up your brand for Christmas, here is a free worksheet for you to download.

Once you have worked through it, you should start to get a clearer idea of what your brand could feel like for Christmas. I have created 6 different Pinterest boards to help with your inspiration. Hopefully you will connect with one of them! They’re packed with trendy images, emotions, moments, DIYs, deco ideas, landscapes, magical views, and so on. Feel free to re-pin whatever you feel attracted to, as ultimately it would be great for you to have your own Christmas brand board too!

I know it can be a little difficult to put yourself in a festive mood so long in advance, but it you’re planning to develop your shop in the long term, you might want to set a start date and get prepared each year. It is all very exciting!

See you next week for the second part A list of the steps you need to take to be ready on time.

Links will be updated once the other posts are live.

All images related to the Pinterest board covers can be found on Pinterest and are credited there accordingly. Featured image copyright White Hart Design Co.